Defender of the Earth
by Grac3
Summary: Part five of the Angel!Verse. Pete Tyler saves the day once again by taking Rose to the parallel universe with him, and the Doctor orbits a supernova so that he can say goodbye. Twoshot. Episode tag: Doomsday (re-write).
1. Canary Wharf

**A.N.:** I have a confession: I'm only really including this as part of the Angel!Verse because I wanted to re-write this scene with Nine anyway, and because Nine survives in this AU, it seemed to fit. That being said, it is worthy of the Angel!Verse and fits in with what I want to happen later. The main focus is the change in the Doctor's reaction to losing Rose in this way (because Nine would be more passionate than Ten was), so I hope it works.

**Warning:** Slight Doctor self-bashing/self-hating

**Series summary: **The TARDIS doesn't always take the Doctor where he wants to go, but it always takes him where he needs to go; Time Lords hold a secret behind their backs, and they have a duty to follow.

**Disclaimer: Don't own Doctor Who**

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Chapter 1 – Canary Wharf

The wall behind them turned bright white as they pulled the heavy-duty switches and the Void was opened. The Doctor still couldn't believe that Rose had come back from the other world – Pete's world – just so that he didn't have to do this alone. She'd left behind her entire family – a family which she had only just found again, a family which she had been so desperate to get back that she'd risked rewriting time a few months after they had first met – for _him_. Even though this was the girl who had absorbed the Time Vortex to get back to him, he would never in a million years have dared to dream that she would do something this drastic.

Yet she had made her choice, as she had said, and she had accepted the fact that she would never see Ricky, or her mother, or the prodigal father that had had only just returned, ever again.

A great wind began to pull them towards the wall, the white light, and the Void. The two of them grabbed onto the manga-clamps, clinging onto them as Daleks and Cybermen began to rush passed them and be sucked back into the Void.

He now knew just how difficult it would have been to do this on his own; how much time would he have had to pull one switch and then run across the room to pull the other? Would he have been pulled into the Void before he had reached the other side? After all, though he didn't have as much 'Void stuff' on him as the Daleks and the Cybermen did, he was a lot closer to the bridge than they were. As it was, the wind was pulling at him and Rose with such ferocity that their feet were no longer touching the ground.

The Doctor looked over at Rose, her hair whipping around her face as she laughed. Daleks began being pulled into the room from outside, screaming as they passed the Doctor and Rose into the Void; she was slightly obscured from his view as they flew through the gap between them, but the Doctor was unable to take his eyes off of his companion, and he still had a massive grin on his face.

Their relationship hadn't been the same since Platform One. He had initially put down the kiss in the TARDIS after they had left the Game Station as some kind of irrational reaction to the news that she would now always be able to see his wings.

Yet as the weeks went on, the kisses continued – often morphing into full-on snogs – and he found that he had to wonder what exactly had changed between them. For it was clear that something had changed, but it seemed to have happened with no words exchanged between them; it was just a shift in the atmosphere, an unspoken alteration of how they viewed each other (or, rather, how Rose viewed the Doctor, because he had been viewing her in such a loving way since he had realised just how much he trusted her over fish and chips, because only a fool falling in love would give all of the secrets of the Time Lords to a human who they had only just met – even when there were no other Time Lords to rebuke him for doing so).

Even so, he had never spoken up about it; he felt for sure that it was some kind of mistake, and that Rose would soon come to her senses and the kisses (which were sometimes full-on snogs) would stop, and they would go back to what they had been before the Game Station just as suddenly as they had become whatever they now were after the Game Station.

Yet his fears had been stilled when they had been on a visit to Bracrow, and one of the Saveng – who were the dominant race on Bracrow – had been rude to the Doctor, at which point Rose had demanded of the alien that he leave her boyfriend alone.

Her boyfriend? Surely you would not just say that to someone if it wasn't true; the Saveng would no doubt have backed off purely to end the experience of being on the receiving end of the great Tyler rage that Rose had inherited from her mother, so she had no real reason to pretend that they were in a formal romantic relationship if they were not.

Even though they had not had that conversation, he said nothing of it; after all, he certainly had no objections to being able to say that he was Rose Tyler's boyfriend (even if the term itself was rather human for his tastes). The exact moment when they became boyfriend and girlfriend was beyond him, but he was definitely not complaining.

He found himself transfixed by the woman across the room from him, almost forgetting that there was any danger in what they were doing at all – they were just doing what they always did: turning up, finding an evil plot, foiling said evil plot, and in the process, saving the universe. Just another Tuesday.

Until Rose's switch began to move back to its neutral position, pulled by the force of the wind sucking things into the Void, and the voice above them declared that it was now offline. Daleks were still rushing passed them, but at a much slower rate, and there was every chance that they wouldn't all disappear before the bridge collapsed in on itself.

Yet as Rose began to reach for the switch, the Doctor knew instantly that he would rather risk his life fighting every last Dalek left on Earth to the death than risk Rose falling into the Void. He begged her to hold on, but – as always – she didn't listen. She let go of the magna-clamp and both the Doctor's hearts leaped into his mouth, only settling down to their natural position in his chest again when Rose had her grip firm on the switch. She fought against the wind to push the switch back to the 'on' position, and eventually the voice from above declared that she had been successful.

Relief filled the Doctor from head to toe, but the blissful feeling disappeared abruptly when he felt a tugging sensation at one of his wings. He looked behind him and saw that one of his black feathers was being pulled by the wind, the quill loosening as it lost its fight to stay in place. Eventually, the wind won the battle with the feather, tearing it free from the wing and sucking it into the Void. The Doctor cried out in pain and shock as a small bead of blood appeared where the quill had been ripped from the wing membrane.

"Doctor!" Rose called, concern thick in her voice as her fingers began to slip on the switch. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he assured her. "Just hold on!"

But her grip was weakening, and the angle available for her to hold on to the switch was not as secure as that which she had been able to hold onto the magna-clamp. Her fingers slipped against the rubber covering the top of the switch, threatening to release the lever altogether and send her spiralling into the Void.

The Doctor reminded her to hold on, all the while gritting his teeth against the pain as more feathers were pulled from his wings. Two more black feathers flew into the white light as he watched Rose hold on for – quite literally – dear life; and then one his primary feathers began to come loose, and oh, that _hurt_.

His bright primaries were much more sensitive than the black feathers below them, and when one of those soft, red feathers finally broke free from the wing, he was blinded for a half-second by the sheer pain of it. He screamed in agony, clamping his eyes shut as ripples of pain shot through his entire wing.

Then he opened his eyes, and saw something that was far more painful than feathers being torn out of his wings could ever be:

His scream had been the final straw that made Rose lose her grip, and now she was hurtling towards the Void with nothing to hold on to that could stop her descent.

"ROSE!" he yelled, reaching out his hand as far as he could to try and grab hers before she disappeared forever. It couldn't happen like this – surely it was never supposed to happen like this – but the Doctor just couldn't reach far enough fast enough, and soon Rose was nearly at the wall, nearly in the Void…

A flash of light appeared just before Rose was gone forever, and suddenly the other Pete Tyler – the Pete Tyler that the Doctor had actually been able to save – was there, catching Rose and saving her. Rose looked back over her shoulder, fixing the Doctor with such a look of sadness that the Doctor had never felt so inadequate.

How could he not save Rose Tyler, the woman who had saved him more times and more completely than she would ever know?

And then she was gone, and the bridge was collapsing, closing in on itself and sealing itself up. The white light disappeared, and the wind died down, and it was safe to let go of the magna-clamp, but the Doctor didn't care. He wanted to let go and be swallowed up by the Void, if the alternative was to live in a universe that no longer contained Rose Tyler.

He let go of the magna-clamp, running as fast as he could to the wall – and with each second that passed without him being pulled into it, he became more and more disappointed – until he reached the plain white expanse and began pounding on the wall with his fists.

"ROSE! _ROSE_!"

~{G}~

On the other side of the Void, Rose stood by the same wall in parallel Torchwood, with tears smudging her mascara as they fell down her cheeks. She reached up to the wall, hearing the cries of the Doctor as he screamed her name from the other side. His voice was only slightly muffled – as though he actually was on the other side of the wall, rather than a whole universe away – his grief powerful enough to transverse the Void itself.

In the end, though, the cries dissolved into sobs, and soon, they had stopped altogether.

Then, there was silence.


	2. Bad Wolf Bay

**A.N.:** Umm... I apologise in advance...

**Warning:** Slight Doctor self-bashing/self-hating, minor spoilers for The Day of the Doctor, minor spoilers for the TV Movie with Paul McGann, slight religious references

**Disclaimer: Don't own Doctor Who (or the lines from Doomsday)**

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Chapter 2 – Bad Wolf Bay

The next twenty-four hours for the Doctor were spent clearing up the mess of what was now being called the Battle of Canary Wharf. He had little time to ponder on the loss of Rose, only when he looked around to say something to her, and he found that she wasn't there.

When his duties were over, however (and they were his duties, for he was still considered to be an employee of UNIT), he began to think about his pink and yellow girl, and how – even if they could never travel together again – he might be able to say goodbye.

Then it hit him.

There was no way that the cracks between the universes were completely closed just yet. There must have been a tiny opening, somewhere, where he could send a projection to Rose.

So he got inside the TARDIS, went to a supernova and placed the ship in orbit until he could generate enough power to send a tiny part of himself across the Void, and began to call her name.

He repeated the single word, calling across the Void until he could feel her, so close to the gap in the universe that they would be able to see each other. A relieved smile broke out on his face as he aimed the sonic screwdriver at the console, so that he could project himself to the alternate universe.

A projection appeared in front of him, like a Time Lord painting – a flat screen before him of a beach with four humans and a jeep in three dimensions: Ricky, Pete, Jackie, and Rose.

Rose.

The Doctor felt his hearts skip a beat each at the sight of her; how long had it been for her?

But she was looking the other way – she didn't know that he was there. He was about to speak up to tell her, to call her, when he was cut off by an ear-splitting scream.

Rose whipped round so that her back was facing the Doctor, to see what had so upset her mother. Jackie was clinging onto Pete's arm while Ricky's face was set in a disbelieving scowl. Pete merely looked confused.

"What is it?" Rose called back, as Jackie pointed behind her at the Doctor with a horrified expression on her face.

"He's there! He's got _wings_! How's he got wings?"

Rose turned to face him then, her hard expression softening at the sight of his sheepish smile.

"Doctor," she breathed, a smile tugging at her own lips. They stood there, merely staring, for a brief second, before Jackie was shouting again.

"Rose! Is there something you're not telling me? What's going on?"

With each word that she said, the Doctor was getting more and more annoyed. He leaned around where Rose was standing to call over to Jackie.

"Oi! We've only got two minutes to talk, and I thought we could do it in private, so could you keep quiet, alright?"

Jackie shrunk back, one arm still interlocked with Pete's, and mercifully shut up. The Doctor gave her a firm nod before standing up straighter, returning his gaze to Rose. She was chuckling, and it was infectious, but their soft laughter soon trickled away into silence.

"Where are you? How come they can see your wings?"

"I'm in the TARDIS," the Doctor explained. "There's still a gap left in the universe, won't be open for long. As for her," he inclined his head to Jackie, "this is just a projection, weak enough for humans to see the wings."

"You look like a ghost," she told him, shaking her head slightly.

"Oh, sorry about that." The Doctor retrieved the sonic from his jacket pocket and twisted the top, pointing it at the console.

Slowly, Rose approached him, one hand reaching up to his face. "Can I-"

The Doctor smiled sadly and shook his head. "Nah. Sorry."

Rose sniffed sadly but seemed to understand, dropping her hand back to her side. "Can't you come through properly?"

_Yes_, the voice in the Doctor's head supplied, but he ignored it. Of course there was a way to go through to the other universe properly, but – as it always was with these things – the eventual outcome would be too devastating. "Rose… I can't. Both universes would collapse, the gap is still so unstable."

"So?" she asked, and he couldn't help but chuckle. There was no response to that, because they both knew that they could never justify making collateral damage out of two universes just so they could spend a few extra minutes with each other – besides, it went against the Doctor's calling.

There was a moment of silence where they merely stared at each other, somehow captivated in a way that didn't need words to accompany it. The Doctor was the first to break the silence, with a light-hearted question.

"Where are we, anyway?" he asked, looking around the beach.

"We're in Norway," Rose explained, and the Doctor felt a pang of guilt at making the four of them travel so far to let them say goodbye; well, he didn't really mind about Jackie and Ricky, but Pete was alright, and he certainly cared about Rose. "About fifty miles out of Burgen. It's called… Dålig Ulv Stranden."

The Doctor's blood ran cold at that. "Dalek?"

Rose shook her head. "Dål_ig_. It's Norwegian for 'bad'. This translates as 'Bad Wolf Bay'." They both chuckled sadly at that; even in a parallel universe, they couldn't get away from those two words.

When the laughter had faded away to silence once more, Rose smiled sadly up at him. "So we've only got two minutes, then?" The Doctor nodded. "I can't even think what to say!"

The corner of the Doctor's mouth twitched, as he wracked his brain for a way to move the conversation on. "Tell me about your life here. What are you doing with your time?"

"I'm… I'm back working in the shop," Rose told him, and the guilt that the Doctor was so familiar with returned with a vengeance. He had torn Rose's life apart and sent her to a parallel universe, and now she was back at square one.

"Well… at least I'm not gonna blow this one up."

Rose laughed at that, though tears were beginning to form in her eyes. "Oh, shut up! There's still a Torchwood on this planet, it's open for business. Think I know a thing or two about aliens."

Now _that_ was more like it. "Rose Tyler: Defender of the Earth," he grinned. "Fantastic!"

Rose gave him a small smile, but it wasn't enough to offset the intense sadness in her eyes. He had to rid her of that; that would not be the last thing he saw of her.

"You're dead," he told her, not sure why. "Back home. They're calling it the Battle of Canary Wharf, and you're on the list of the dead. But here you are, living a life day to day. I can't have that."

Rose was crying now, and he wondered what he had done wrong – though he was trying so hard to not start crying himself that the next silence was broken by Rose's tearful voice. "Am I ever gonna see you again?"

The Doctor didn't want to say. It was easier to believe that it wasn't true if neither of them said it out loud. Yet it had to be done, and so, with heavy hearts, he told her that no, they couldn't see each other again.

"What are you gonna do?"

"What I've always done. Travel. Get into trouble. Be the Last of the Time Lords. You know, same old, same old."

"On your own? Rose sniffed.

The Doctor hadn't really thought about that; it had obviously been a lot longer for her than it had for him, and he hadn't really had time to think about what he was going to do next.

He had had many companions before, but he had never quite felt this way about any of them before. He had been close to falling for Grace, but he had never had the chance to travel with her like he had with Rose; he had visited her, certainly, but he had spent almost two whole years travelling with Rose, and he was finding it difficult to conceive of travelling with anyone else. He nodded in response, and Rose sighed.

"I l-" she began, but her breath caught in her throat and she had to look away. The Doctor felt his hearts rate increase; surely this couldn't be happening – she wasn't going to say what he thought she was…

"I love you."

His instinctual reaction was to ask why. Why would she love him, the alien screw up who had put her in so much danger, then stranded her? He was rendered speechless for a moment, before he realised that he should probably say something back.

"Rose Tyler-" he began, but then she was gone. The gap in the universe had closed, and he had never had the chance to say that he loved her as well. Tears fell silently down his cheeks, but he would not admit defeat. He _would_ finish that sentence.

He began skipping around the console, ready to find another supernova to orbit, or to find one of his younger selves so that he could use the power of the Time Lords to cross the parallel universe – because he didn't care about all of the Laws of Time that he would be breaking, as long as Rose got to hear the end of that sentence.

"Excuse me," he said distractedly to the redhead in the wedding dress, gently pushing her out of the way so that he could get to the console.

"No! I will not excuse you!"

The Doctor froze. Redhead in a wedding dress?

He looked up to see a furious woman glaring at him, though there was fear and perplexity present in her eyes. "Where am I? What the hell is this place?"

The Doctor's brow furrowed in shock and confusion. "_What_?"

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**A.N.2:** The next part has been written, and will hopefully be posted soon. Next up: Forest of the Dead!

**A.N.3:** I have an idea for a mini-series set within the Angel!Verse, but that won't get written for a while, probably...

**UPDATE 02/07/14:** Part six of the Angel!Verse, Who Are You?, is up now.


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